Piston ring



A. J. H. KUHSIEK AND A. IVIAYER.

PISTON RING.

APPLICATION FILED IIJIIE II. 1920.

l l 9, l 5 0., Patented June 13, 1922,

s sj AMER?? J. H. KUHSIEK AND AR'IHUR MAYE, 'OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORSv TO STEEL SPRING PISTON RING GO., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

intenso.

rrsron nine.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 13, 1921.2.

Application led .Tune 11, 1920. Serial No. 388,085.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, ALBERT J. H. KUH- sIEK and ARTHUR MAYER, both citizens of the United States, and residents of the borough of Brookl n, county of Kings, city and State of New ork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piston Rings, of which the following is a specification. v

Our invention relates to piston rings and more particularly to metallic iston rings of the type which are sprung mto annular grooves in the piston and has for its object to provide an improved and simplified construction whereby the elliciency of the piston ring as a packing is increased to a maximum extent. Other more specific objects of our invention will appear from the description hereinafter and the features of novelty'will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which show an example of our invention, without defining its limits, Fig. 1 is 'a fragmentary elevation of a piston rovided with our improved piston ring; lpig. 2 is a longitudinal Section thereof; Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; F ig. 4; is a ycrosssection of the ring itself on an enlarged scale and Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a portion of a spring included in our invention.

In its illustrated form our improved piston ring comprises an inner annular member 10 andan outer annular member 1l fitted one within the other', both members being split and located with respect to each other so that the split of one is out of reglstry with the split of the other member. The contiguous surfaces of the annular members which engage each other are inclmed relatively to the common axis thereof, the illustrated example showing the inner surface of the outerv member converging upwardly and the outer surface of the ,inner member diverging downwardly; in other words both annular members are of substantially triangular form in cross-section .and are combined with the a ices of the triangles pointing in opposite irections, so that the complete ring is of substantially Y rectangular form in cross-section as shown in Fig. 4.

When combined with the piston 12, which' may be of any well known type, each coma spring 15 which lies within the groove 13 between said ring and the inner wall 'of said groove; this spring '15 is of special formation and is formed with curved por-. tions 16` which lie against the inner surface of the inner ring member 10 and are concentric therewith and which are connected by straight portions 17. The latter are located in engagement with thev inner wall of the piston groove 13 and extend tangentially thereto; with this arrangement the spring comprises a series of alternate curved and straight sections which alternately `engage the ring and the inner'wall of the piston groove 13. The spring 15 is split and exerts an outward tension, uniform'throughout and whereby the outer ring member 1l is forced into close engagement with the inner wall of the cylinder; the outward pressure of said spring 15 exerted upon the ring also causes the inclined contiguous surfaces a of the members 10 and 11 to-func tion as cams and to shift the ring members 10 and 11 relatively to each other in the direction ofv their common axis. This relative shifting of the ring members -causes them to engage the opposite transverse walls of the groove 13 so that said ring completely lls the latter. rlhe combined action of the i springs 15 and the inclined contiguous Sur- .particular importance in that it provides a plurality of active curved sections connected together by a plurality of relatively straight sections which, by extending tangentially to the inner wall of the groove 13 and engaging the same only at limited points of contact provide the necessary reaction without interfering with the resiliency of the sprlng as a whole.l That is to say, when in use, the spring exerts a resilient tension at all points between the tangential points of contact of the strainght portions 17 With the inner Wall of said groove 13.

Our improved piston ring is simple in construction Aand economical to manufacture and is of uniform and maximum ein' ciency as a packing; the ,ring may readily .be combined with the piston and detached therefrom.

Various changes in the Specific lform shown anddescribed may be made within the scope of the claims Without departing from the spirit of our invention.

The present application is a continuation in part, of another application filed by us, as joint inventors on December 9, 1918, Serial No. 265,844.

Ve claim:

1. The combination of a cylinder, a piston therein having an annular groove formed in its outer surface, a `piston ring comprising an outer annular member and an inner annular member fitted within the same, the contacting surfaces of said members being inclined relatively tol the common axis thereof and a spring bearing against the inner ring member and against the inner Wall of the lgroove whereby said contacting surfaces are caused to function as cams to shift said ring members relatively to each other in the direction of -their common axis into engagement with the transverse walls of Said groove and to facilitate the radial expansion of said ring, said spring extending continuously throughout said groove and comprising alternately curved portions engaging and concentric With the inner ring member and continuing straight portions connecting 'the curved portions extending tangent to and ALBERT J. H. KUHSIEK. ARTHUR MAYER. 

